Drought in Carroll County, MD: 1.9 years in 10 since 2000

1.9 years in 10

Carroll County, MD: 5 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 0
2. 12
3. 44
4. 0
5. 0
6. 3
7. 5
8. 15
9. 0
10. 2
11. 2
12. 2
13. 1
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 7
18. 13
19. 6
20. 4
21. 0
22. 0
23. 0
24. 22
25. 12
26. 24

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (44 wk), 2007 (15 wk), 2017 (13 wk), 2023 (22 wk) and 2025 (24 wk). Not a single drought week in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Jan turns dry.

Against the rest of MD

10th most drought-prone of 24 MD counties; the MD middle is 1.9 in 10. Closest on the list: Calvert County (1.9 in 10) and Baltimore City (1.9 in 10). Driest in MD: Wicomico County (3.1 in 10). Least drought: Garrett County (1.2 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Jan (19% of weeks), then Aug (18%) and Nov (17%). Least in Jun (12%). May to September averages 15%.

1. 19 Jan
2. 16 Feb
3. 14 Mar
4. 16 Apr
5. 13 May
6. 12 Jun
7. 17 Jul
8. 18 Aug
9. 14 Sep
10. 16 Oct
11. 17 Nov
12. 16 Dec

The worst year: 2002

2002: 44 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 15.6% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 4.9% at D2, 1.4% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 53 weeks, Oct 30, 2001 to Oct 29, 2002.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 24 weeks. 2016-2025: 3 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 44 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Carroll County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2002, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Carroll County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.